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Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Here in central Wisconsin, USA, on Groundhog Day 2016, we are experiencing a winter storm. It's not as "bad" as the meteorologists were originally predicting, but then again, "It ain't over till it's over". We've got more than nine hours left in the winter storm warning.

I enjoy snow. It is one of my guilty pleasures! It makes me glad to be alive - so very, very, very glad to be alive! Now, I don't have to drive, and I don't have to shovel, and life simply seems grand with a fresh white coating of new-fallen snow. I think the El Nino weather pattern has finally gone es kaput and that winter is - at long last - arriving in earnest for us in our part of the nation. Sighing a sigh of relief and dancing a jig for joy! Color me jigorous (that's a shout out to my fellow Ceili Rain friends!).

It's also Candlemas (the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord). We took down our outdoor Christmas decorations this morning before the snow began to fly. Indoors, however, we are still decorated for Christmas, though I am not lighting the Christmas tree any more. And also haven't listened to Christmas music in a few weeks. Even little Christmas fanatics like me need a break once in awhile. *grin* Nonetheless, I am lining up Christmas crochet projects to begin. I bought two new mega books of crocheted snowflake patterns, I have a jumbo spindle of white crochet cotton, and have polished up my trusty crochet hooks (most of which I inherited from my Italian Nani). Have also unearthed my crocheted angel patterns. I would rather be knitting, but have developed a nasty case of Knitter's Shoulder. Ouch. Meaning, I need to rest my knitting muscles and do something less taxing for awhile.

Isn't it amazing and beautiful how God creates blizzards of bazillions of snowflakes out of nothing in nanoseconds with no two being exactly alike, yet we humans who craft snowflakes must painstakingly stitch replicas from patterns? I think God is some kind of wonderful!

I go bonkers when I'm not creating something. If I'm really, really, really tired like this past month, it is all I can do to color in a coloring book. You all know already that the latest craft rage is adult coloring books, right?! Well, on days like the past week, I've not even been able to color those with their intricate patterns. No! I have ended up back at Winnie-the-Pooh and Care Bears level! Thank You, Jesus for the $1 big coloring books at the Dollar Tree!!! :)

Got a new camera for Christmas, and also got the second most recent one fixed. The third most recent one is still great. I am a Kodak girl. The two oldest ones are bridge cameras (something between DSLR and a point and shoot), with excellent German lenses and lots of creative control (I can set the aperture and shutter speeds myself if I like). The newest one is a bridge camera as well, but it's not got the German lens. It does have lots of bells and whistles. But what do I do but take a crazy number of pictures of my cat, in an effort to learn how to use all of the bells and whistles in time to take the camera(s) to the zoo this spring-summer-fall. And, I admit it: I like taking pictures of my cat!

People, however, don't seem to like having their pictures taken. The prefer to take selfies, the goons. Taking selfies is really a sign of a personality disorder. People have been known to attempt and successfully commit suicide over their selfies. People have been known to take thousands of selfies and still not be happy with even one shot. Get some help, people!

You are not your selfies! You are a precious child of God, created in His image and likeness. There is no one else just like you, there never was before, and there never will be again another you! You are wonderful just the way you are! There's more to life than how you look! Forget about the boob job and the nose job! Your boobs are going to sag eventually anyway, and your nose is going to get bigger as you age anyway! Ask God for the grace to see yourself as the beautiful creature that He made you; ask God for the grace to see yourself with His eyes of love,,, the way HE sees you. Does what anyone else think really matter?! Hell no!

We all just want to be loved, and that's why we obsess over our appearance. But, we age. We gain weight and we wrinkle. We develop health problems that warrant our need to take medications which make us gain even more weight. The latest fashions are for toothpick models who look like they have a foot and two arms in the grave already, and we want to look like THEM, for pity's sake????!!!!! OY GEVALT! You ARE loved already, by the One True God, whose love is infinitely more powerful and healing than that of all of the human beings on this planet put together.

End rant! Please know that you are loved!

Well, this didn't turn out to be quite the post that I'd intended, but c'est la vie! I return to my coloring book and my addiction to certain Pandora stations which I have put together. Am currently enjoying some really rowdy Big Band Dixieland Jazz, and also 1920's Jazz.

Praying for hope for all of us worldwide. The Middle East is in an intensifying piecemeal Third World War. We need to be peace - the peace of Christ - in this troubled world. Each one of us matter in that effort to be peace.